Meat shops and eateries to come under police scanner

In the wake of seizure of huge quantity of rotten poultry meat recently, police and food safety department have decided to clamp down on illegal meat shops, besides monitoring eateries and meat shops in the city.

TNN | Jun 8, 2014, 16:16 IST

KOCHI: In the wake of seizure of huge quantity of rotten poultry meat recently, police and food safety department have decided to clamp down on illegal meat shops, besides monitoring eateries and meat shops in the city.
The inspections and surveillance activities will be carried out separately by both police and food safety department, according to sources.

"In the context of seizure of rotten meat, we will inspect meat shops in the city. Many of them have been operating secretly without valid licence," said K Ajith Kumar, assistant commissioner, food safety, Ernakulam. However, he refused to divulge more details.

On Friday, police and health department had seized 600kg of rotten duck meat, which was meant for supply in Ernakulam and at Kalavoor in Alappuzha district. In an earlier incident, police had seized over 300kg rotten chicken meat from a stall in Kaloor market.

But food safety department officials expressed their inability to conduct frequent raids due to shortage of staff and vehicles. "It is not possible for us to carry out checking regularly. Coordinated efforts of various agencies are required to keep a check on it. Many a time we are kept in the dark when local bodies and police conduct raids," said a food safety official.

He added that the food safety department has already sought assistance of the state intelligence to find out the suppliers and buyers of stale meat.

Police say that supply of rotten meat to restaurants and other eateries has become rampant in the city. "It's a serious issue. Police will soon conduct inspections to keep a check on the use of stale meat by restaurants," said M Ramesh Kumar, assistant commissioner, special branch, Kochi City.

Food safety officials said stale chicken seized from Kaloor market was meant mainly for migrant workers. Though the suppliers had claimed that the stale meat was not sold for human consumption but was rather meant for pet animals, food safety officials were not quite convinced and did not find a grain of truth in that statement.

Meanwhile, restaurant association and bakers' association blamed each other for the use of stale meat. "Rotten meat is not used by restaurants. Instead it is used by bakeries for preparing cutlets and puffs," said Jose Mohan, general secretary, Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association.

However, bakeries denied the claim of restaurant association. "We don't use rotten meat in cutlets and puffs because if we use then people will immediately come to know about it due to the stench of stale meat," said P M Sankaran, president, Bakers Association Kerala (Bake).

The inspections and surveillance activities will be carried out separately by both police and food safety department, according to sources. "In the context of seizure of rotten, we will inspect meat shops in the city. Many of them have been operating without valid license and secretly," said K Ajith Kumar, assistant commissioner, Food Safety Ernakulam. However, he refused to reveal more on the same.

In the latest incident, police and health department seized 600kg of rotten duck meat, which was meant for supply in Ernakulam, in Kalavoor in Alappuzha district on Friday. In an earlier incident, police had seized over 300 kg rotten chicken meat from a stall in Kaloor market.

But food safety department officials expressed their inability to conduct frequent raids due to shortage of man power and vehicles. "It was not possible for us to conduct checking regularly. In order to check the issue, coordinated efforts of various agencies are required. On several occasions, we are not informed by local bodies and police when they conduct raids," said a food safety official. He added that the food safety department has already assistance of the state intelligence in order to find out suppliers and buyers of stale meat.

According to police, supply of rotten meat to restaurants and other eateries has become rampant in the city. "It's a serious issue. Police will soon start inspections in restaurants in order to check use of stale meat by restaurants," said M Ramesh Kumar, assistant commissioner, special branch, Kochi City.

The food safety officials said that stale chicken seized from Kaloor market was meant mainly for migrant workers. They also ruled out claims of suppliers that stale meat was not being sold for human consumption and it was being sold for consumption of pet animals.

Meanwhile, restaurant association and bakers' association blamed each other for the use of stale meat. "Rotten meat is not used by restaurants. Instead it is used by bakeries for preparing cutlet and puffs," said Jose Mohan, general secretary, Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association.

However, bakeries denied the claim of restaurant association. "We don't use rotten meat in cutlets and puffs because if used, then people will immediately know about it, due to the stench of stale meat," said P M Sankaran, president, Bakers Association Kerala (Bake).

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